'Be confident': Other young councillors' advice to Stacey Rose, 19

Stacey Rose is the youngest person ever elected to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Photo / Samantha Motion

Stacey Rose is the youngest ever person elected to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

At 19, Rose has won a seat on the council without a single vote being cast, as one of only five candidates who put their names forward for the five seats in the Tauranga constituency.

A council spokeswoman confirmed Rose, who will be 20 by the time he takes his seat, was the youngest councillor elected since the regional council was established in 1989.

It's unclear whether he will break any national records, with neither Local Government New Zealand nor the Electoral Commission having any historical records of the age of candidates.

Hayley Wain was 18 when she was elected to the Wellington City Council, while Nick Leggett and Bronwyn Kropp were each 19 when they were elected to Porirua City Council. Leggett, first elected in 1998, went on to become mayor of the city in 2010.

Rose may still be in the running, however, for the regional council record.

On Wednesday the young barber - a Tauranga resident of four months - told the Bay of Plenty Times he had put his name forward to bring a youth voice to the campaign, never expecting to win. He was, however, ready to take up the challenge.

Yesterday he said reaction to the news about his election had been good, with lots of people coming into his work to greet "Councillor Stacey".

Be confident, ask questions and do your homework were some of the pieces of advice other young candidates had for Rose today.

Kropp, who served two terms in Porirua, said he should grow a thick skin, pick his battles, and not get distracted from the issues that matter.

Tania Tapsell was 21 when she was elected to the Rotorua Lakes District Council in 2013 - a record for that council at the time.

She said people gave her a hard time about her age on the campaign trail and she had experienced some condescending encounters since being elected.

Rotorua Lakes councillor Tania Tapsell was 21 when she was elected. Photo / File

"I encountered people who did not believe I could make it. Some of them said some pretty nasty things to me."

Overall, however, it had been an empowering experience.

When she ran for a second term she was the highest polling candidate.

"It really showed young people that as long as you do a good job there is not really that much they can criticise you for."

Her advice to Rose was: "Be confident, your age does not determine your abilities.

"It's all about how hard you are willing to work to represent your community."

Rebecca Vergunst was 22 when she was elected to the Carterton District Council in 2016.

One advantage of having a young person on the council was they might use civic services that older councillors did not, she said.

As a mum with a young family, she understood first-hand the value of facilities such as public pools and libraries, she said.

Rebecca Vergunst when she stood for Carterton District Council in 2016, age 22. Photo / File

She said parts of what she had learned about how local government worked had been "eye-opening" and said new councillors should not be afraid to ask a lot of questions.

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Arapeta Tahana was 33 when he was elected six years ago in the Okurei Māori seat representing Rotorua.

"I'm not standing this year. I have joked that I could retire now and come back in 10 years and still be one of the youngest councillors."

Tahana said it was great to see a young voice join the council.

Tahana said his advice to young councillors was to first take some time to get their heads around how local government worked, especially at the regional council level.

Mentors were valuable but equally being elected young usually meant less political baggage, which was a good thing.

"Value your contributions with confidence. Don't be shy or afraid of sharing new ideas."